With Joe Flacco signing with the Browns, I feel a lot better about their offense perhaps not being a total dumpster fire. As history has shown us over and over and over, there’s what you expect to happen, and then there’s the results of how it actually plays out.
Of the last 20 teams that have finished last in scoring, only four of those teams came back the next season and again ranked in the bottom-5 in points. An equal number of those teams moved all the way up into the top 10 in scoring.
I’m not suggesting Flacco will be directing a top-10 offense, but I expect they’ll be plucky at times. Prior to scoring a league-low 27 touchdowns last year, Cleveland’s offense scored 41, 38 and 39 touchdowns in its previous three seasons. If we split the difference and put them at 33 touchdowns, that seems fair.
I expect Flacco will be gunning it at times, with Jerry Jeudy catching a lot of balls and David Njoku (pictured) heavily involved. When Njoku played five games with Flacco two years ago, he caught 37 passes and 4 TDs. He’s a legit tight end.
Below see the rundown of offenses that have ranked last in scoring in the 32-team era. Of the last 20, only half finished in the bottom 10 in scoring again the next year.
OFFENSES RANKING LAST IN SCORING | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Team | Avg | Next | Rk |
2002 | Houston | 13.3 | 15.9 | 28 |
2003 | Arizona | 14.1 | 17.8 | 26 |
2004 | Chicago | 14.4 | 16.3 | 26t |
2005 | Cleveland | 14.5 | 14.9 | 30 |
2006 | Oakland | 10.5 | 17.7 | 23 |
2007 | San Francisco | 13.7 | 21.2 | 22 |
2008 | Cincinnati | 12.8 | 19.1 | 22 |
2009 | St. Louis | 10.9 | 18.1 | 26t |
2010 | Carolina | 12.3 | 25.4 | 5t |
2011 | St. Louis | 12.1 | 18.7 | 25 |
2012 | Kansas City | 13.2 | 26.9 | 6t |
2013 | Jacksonville | 15.4 | 15.6 | 32 |
2014 | Jacksonville | 15.6 | 23.5 | 14 |
2015 | San Francisco | 14.9 | 19.3 | 27 |
2016 | LA Rams | 14.0 | 29.9 | 1 |
2017 | Cleveland | 14.6 | 22.4 | 20 |
2018 | Arizona | 14.1 | 22.6 | 16t |
2019 | Washington | 16.6 | 20.9 | 25 |
2020 | NY Jets | 15.2 | 18.2 | 28 |
2021 | Jacksonville | 14.9 | 23.8 | 10 |
2022 | Denver | 16.9 | 21.0 | 19 |
2023 | Carolina (tie) | 13.9 | 20.1 | 23 |
2023 | New England (tie) | 13.9 | 17.0 | 30 |
2024 | Cleveland | 15.2 | ? | ? |
—Ian Allan